Maximizing Your Experience: Studying Abroad with Princeton University
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In this summer's edition of "Research Abroad", Kate Weseley-Jones, Humanities Correspondent, shares insights on creating an impactful senior thesis while studying abroad. The article, titled "How to Make an Impactful Senior Thesis", is also included in the "Summer 2019 Cheat Sheet".
Journeying to Denmark as part of a class called "Making the Viking Age", the author found that coming up with a research project during a short time abroad can be intimidating. However, with strategic planning, open-minded exploration, and the ability to connect academic objectives with unique destination opportunities, it's possible to develop a compelling research question.
Preparing Before Departure
Before embarking on the journey, it's essential to review course objectives, meet with faculty or mentors, conduct preliminary research, and draft potential questions. Understanding the scholarly landscape in your host country can help refine your questions and identify gaps worth investigating.
Generating Questions During Travel
Engaging with the local community, observing daily life, and adapting questions based on realities on the ground are key strategies for generating research questions during travel. Documenting observations in a research journal can help identify themes and refine the research focus.
Integrating Research and Travel
Choosing programs with a research or service-learning component, seeking mentorship and support, and presenting findings upon return can help students develop thoughtful, well-articulated questions from the outset.
Sample Approaches to Developing Questions
Comparison-based, case study, participant-observation, and action-research are some sample approaches to developing research questions. These methods allow students to explore various aspects of their destination, such as differences between issues in their home country and the host country, local effects of policies, cultural interpretations, and potential interventions.
Tips for Success
Starting broad and narrowing the focus, being curious and open, aligning questions with academic goals, and seeking ethical guidance are some tips for success. The author recommends writing a reflection at the end of each day of a trip as a great way to start a research project.
Haider Abbas '17 was interviewed for the article, sharing his experiences and advice on making an impactful senior thesis while studying abroad. The author also highlights the importance of keeping an eye out for courses that include travel and admits to still working out a more organized system for note-taking on the go.
The author's favourite stops in Rome, where they also traveled for a class, involved intricate architectural design. Both Princeton trips the author has been on involved a full, free day of independent exploration. The author encourages readers to find courses that include travel and recommends a pre-departure plan for studying abroad.
References: 1. [1] The article cites various university resources and guidelines for engaging in human or animal subject research, ensuring ethical conduct throughout the research process.
- Haider Abbas '17, in an interview for "Research Abroad," emphasized the importance of travel in crafting an impactful senior thesis, recommending students to seek out courses that include travel for self-development and education.
- To create a compelling senior thesis, students should consider blending online-learning resources with in-person experiences, integrating online-education with travel and immersion in a new lifestyle for a holistic learning approach.
- While studying abroad, the author of the article experienced the benefits of participating in a class called "Making the Viking Age," and believes that incorporating travel into one's education-and-self-development journey can help stimulate new and creative research questions, enriching the senior thesis.
